4-48 




Class 
Book 









PROCEXiDXNGS 



OS 



A MEETING 



HELD AT 



P7 INCFTON, NEW-JERSEY, 

JULY 14, 1834. 5^ 



TO FORM 



^fN THE STATE OF NEW-JERSEY, 



TO COOFEBATE WITH THE 



AMERICAMT 



P2iIJ\rCET0JV, JV.J.: 

PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY, 

BY D. A. BORRENSTEIN. 

1824. 






u 

m 



I 



/■'t 



to 



PROGEEDINGS, 




IN pursuance of a Public iV)tice that had 
been given in the several News-pjipers, printed 
in New^-Jersey, — •— ^ — — - 

■■ w^A large and respectable Meeting took place 
in the Church, in the BoROUGH\of Princeton, 
on Wednesday, July 14, 1824.* 



i I L -f 



OJ\r MOTIOJV MUDE AjYD SECOjXDED,. 




kOBERT FIELD STOCKTON, ESQUIRE, 



THE UNITED STATES INAVY, 



,i— 4vas requested to take the Chair \and on taking 
the Chair, opened the Meeting withVthe following 
Address. 

THE promptness with which I accept this high honour, 
which you, my fellow citizens, have conferred upon me, 
arises not from any presumption of my own worthiness, but 



^ 



from an unwillingness to slight in the least degree, the 
smallest mark of your esteem. The usual embarrassments 
which are experienced upon the first /Cccasion of a young, 
man's addressing a Public Assembly, are much increased by 
the peculiar circumstances under which I am called upon to 
fulfil the duties of your chairman ; — and perceiving among 
this audience, some of the most learned and distinguished 
men, before whose age and experience it would better be- 
come me to be silent, I confess, my confidence has almost 
forsaken me, and my mind would surely sink under the 
weight of this exertion, did I not know, that all the defi- 
ciences of the person addr,essing you, will readily be made 
up by the intellig^^^and sagacity of those, who hear him. 



"r" 



In conformity^ with the common practice upon such occa- 
•■sitrrr?"'! ■^g'T5Tif*indurgence while I shall endeavour in the 
briefest manner, to give an outline of the design, commence- 
ment, and progress, of the American Society for piO' (!*■- 

NIZING THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOUR OF THE UnITED 

States ; and in aid of which this Public Meeting has been 
^ \ ^^^ eoii ' od -^" leaving "" ft ^ t tH ' j e filled up by gentlemen, who are 
► \ ■ /• much more coii|fetent, and no doubt, prepared, to give to 

^ ... . ■ ■■ tli^j natter a thorough investigation. 

•"" "Slavery, with all its unprecedented atrocities, halt;-fop— • 
many years, been the constant theme of reflection and dis- 
cussion among the PJiilanthropists of the world ; aits' in no 
country were their ejiertions, to put an end to that traffic, and 
to make amends for'' the mistaken policy, and cruel inhumanity* —^ 
of our progenitor/, more zealous and sincere than in this, our 
own^ — various ha^ been the suggestions and plans of the friends 
of justice and humanity, to put a stop to that trade; and for 
the gradual abolition of slavery, throughout our coimtry. — But 
no man was found sufficiently bold and able to lay before the 
public awell digested Plan, obviating the objections, which had 




always been raised against this effort of benevolence ; (the 
greatest of which was, the letting loose upon the community of 
the United States, such a body of men, who had no important 
interests at stake, nor any common concern in the permanency 
of our Institutions;) until the Rev. Mr. Finley of this State, with 
the assistance of otlners, made known the present sclieme of the 
American Society for Colonizing the free people of colour of 
the United States. — The remembrance of Mr. Finley's exalted 
virtues and steady perseverance in the paths of rectitude and 
honour and humanity, swell my bosom with emotions, not easily 
to be checked ; for to none were they better known, than to my- 
self, iiaving been one of his pupils — and may I not be permitted, 
on this occasion, to offer my humble but sincere tribute of re- 
spect, to the memory of one so great and so good. — His object 
was national, as well as humane and religious. The nation 
ought, and I have no doubt, will honour him. If those then, 
who are connected with him by no other tie than that of 
national pride, will respect and cherish his memory, where 
would you draw the limits to that ardent and enthusiastic 
regard, which every friend may be allowed to entertain for 
his character. I have said, he was a good man ; and as it 
is the highest eulogium, that can be bestowed upon any 
one, I will leave this subject, pleasing as it is, for tlie 
purpose of performing my duty ; and relieving you, as soon 
as possible, from the fatigue of hearing me, and be mvsell" 
relieved from that perturbation of mind, which arises from the 
novelty of my situation. 

It has been stated, that the objects of the authors of that 
Institution were national and religious ; but perhaps it will not 
be amiss, to be a little more particular and minute, as there 
appears to be some misunderstanding in that particular. 

Their first and great object was a gradual Abolition of 
Slavery. They perceived the dangers, that would result from 
the liberation of slaves in any number, until some suitable 
place, beyond the limits of the United States, had been pre- 



pared for their reception, and therefore proposed the Plan 
which is now in successful operation. 

A second motive was, to reclaim the inhabitants of Af- 
rica from savageness and brutality. That vast continent is 
said to contain fifty millions of Inhabitants ; whose pleasures 
are sloth, and idleness ; their employments, rapine and 
murder ; their knowledge, treachery ; their government force, 
cruelty, and oppression, their religion, a blind devotion to 
the most profane and bloody superstitions ; and in truth, 
the whole of that immense population, vitiated and debased 
by the most profound ignorance, and unrestrained barbarism. 
To civilize this degenerate people, to change their ig- 
norance into knowledge, their horrible superstition into a 
right understanding of the Christian Religion, their treach- 
ery into good faith, and their slothfulness into industry, are 
among the results contemplated by the proposed Plan of the 
American Colonization Society. 

A third motive that was strong in its operation upon tlie 
mind of Mr. Finley and his coadjutors, was the suppression 
of the Slave Trade. I need not detain you by any comment 
upon the wickedness and barbarity of that Trade ; it has been 
so often the theme of just reproach and severe invective, and 
all Christendom seems to have settled down upon the princi- 
ple, that such trafiickers are "hostes humani generis." But 
as the first founders of that Institution have so often been ac- 
cused of extravagant and visionary expectations, it may not be 
unbecoming in me to state, how it was expected that the 
Establishment of a Colony on the Coast of Africa, would 
operate upon that trade. 

All the inhabitants of that region, south of the Great 
Desert, have been for ages constantly supplied with rum, 
tobacco, pipes, &c. &c. &c., through the instrumentality of 
the Slave Traders ; and having been led to believe, that 
their supply of tho.e articles, depended entirely upon the 
prosecution and prosperity of that trade, they are continu- 



ally engaged in wars for the purpose of its continuation. — 
Tliej have been led from the cultivation of their rich and 
luxuriant soil, and even from the chase, the legitimate pur- 
suit and manly employment of savage life, to the unnatu- 
ral practice of speculating in human blood! — No rational 
mind can believe, that the feelings of relation, and friend, 
and tribe, and countryman, could have been originally de- 
nied to this people ; but rather, that it had been paralysed 
by the prospect of gain, the removal of which powerful prin- 
ciple would restore to the African in full force, his natural 
regards and friendships. — It was therefore believed, that the 
establishment of a Colony in the heart of the Slave Trade, 
would lead them to the cultivation of the land and the ar- 
dour of the chase, as a more quiet and easy mode, of obtain- 
ing those articles of European luxury, which have become 
almost necessary to their existence. 

Such were the views and intentions upon which the 
American Society for colonizing the free people of colour, 
of the United vStates, was instituted. This scheme had no 
sooner been promulgated, than an attack was made upon 
the purity of its principles. It was thought by the inhabit- 
ants of the Southern Section of the Country, to be a Plan, 
generated in tiie North, to operate against the interest of 
the South ; and in the North, it was thought a Southern pro- 
ject, to get rid of the Free Blacks ; only that they might 
tighten the chains of Slavery. Steady perseverance, how, 
ever, overcame misrepresentation and calumny, and they 
both yielded to the irresistible force of truth and humanity. 
A cry of visionary enthusiasm, was, however, still heard. 
The constant exclamation was, " show us that your plans 
are feasible ; convince us that the thing can be done. " 

The Managers went to the experiment, elated with hope 
and joy, and, after great exertion, fitted out an expedition, 
to the Island of Sherbro. Intelligence from that expedition, 
of a most disastrous nature, soon reached the United States. 



8 

It wrung the heart of every friend of the Society, and 
checked for a time (until the true cause of that melancholy 
misfortune could be clearly understood) the exei-tions of 
the Managers. 

Although it was necessary at that time^ that the cause 
should be explained, it is not so now, in the present ad- 
vanced state of the Society's affairs. For the pestilence 
of the Island of Sherbro, or the treachery and infamy of 
Kezzell, has no more to do with the climate of Montser- 
rado, or the character of its inhabitants, than a Southern fever 
can affect the State of New-Jersey. I will jiot, therefore, 
dwell upon that scene of lamentation and grief longer, than 
to pay a proper lespect to the memory of Mills and of Ba- 
con and the others, who fell in the exercise of the most 
magnanimous and disinterested humanity. .fTheir bodies are 
on the Coast, but their memories are embalmed in the hearts 
of their countrymen. May their names and their exertions 
be perpetuated, the one for praise, and the other for imi- 
tation. ' ' 

On the first intelligence of this disaster, the whole Plan 
was denounced as impracticable, and without looking into 
the causes of that melancholy fatality, the opponents of the 
Institution would persuade, that the Almighty had placed im- 
passible barriers to the civilization of Africa ; and that, there- 
fore, the scheme of the Colonization Society must fail. But, 
whence came this important conclusion, this would-be pro- 
phecy, this knowledge of the future. Was it the result of 
careful examination, and the deduction of sound philosophy l" 
or did the great Jehovah let them into the secrets of His 
unfathomable designs.^ or was it written in the Sun-beams 
of the heavens.^* No: — they would not undergo the labour of 
inquiry and rational investigation 5 they were unworthy of 
inspiration, nor had they any knowledge of the future ; but 
it was the inveteracy of prejudice, the violent effusions of 
hastv thought. 



11 

or a hat in exchange, and you will get the valuable pro 
ductions of their rich and fertile soil. 

As to the intellectual qualifications of the negro — it is 
unfair to judge of him in that respect, as he is here seen 
in a state of servitude. At the English Settlements upon 
the Coast of Africa, natives have been taught all the me- 
chanic arts, — In Regent's Town young natives are making 
rapid progress in the Latin and Greek languages, who, six 
years ago, were wild and ignorant. It is found, they acquire 
a knowledge of the Arts and Sciences, with as much faci- 
lity as any other people, and it is only here, in their state of 
degradation, that such a question haSk.been agitated. 



With regard to the expense of transporta^iTJn^^^s not 
by any means, so gi-eat as has been represented. TnST*^ 
the authority of a letter from Dr. Ayres, of whom I have 
before spoken, for stating, that the last company of one hund- 
red and five persons., were taken out for twenty-six Dollars 
each ; and when the prosperity of the Colony shall enable 
them to furnish a return cargo, it will unquestionably reduce 
the a^^age price to a much lower rate ; and in fact, a great 
many will be able to work their own passages as soon as a 
brisk trade shall be opened with the Colony. 

In this manner of viewing the affairs of the American 
Society for Colonizing the Free People of colour, of the 
United States ; I think, you will yield your hearty assent, 
to the purity and philanthropy of its principles. For, 
you, no doubt, desire the Abolition of Slavery; and are anx- 
ious for the civilization of Africa ; and cannot but rejoice 
in the destruction of the Slave Trade. I think also that you 
must be satisfied, that the climate is sufficiently salubrious, 
for our black population; that the soil is good ; that the faci- 
lities for cultivation and improvement are great ; that the in- 
tellect of the Negro, in a state of natural freedom, is strong 
enough; that the expense of transportation is not much; and 
finally, that the Plan of the American Society for Coloniz- 




12 



ing the Free People of colour of the Umted States, is not 
only practicable, but there is great probability, that, with 
moderate assistance from the nation, it will succeed to th& 
utmost expectations of its first friends. 

To appeal to your feelings upon an occasion like the 
present ; and to oft'er inducements to a popular Assem- 
bly to ai<l in so good a work, presents a fine field for 
declamation. But, I believe, there is too much intelligence 
in this Meeting to bear with such presumption from me ; 
arid that all you require, is a fair understanding of the sub- 
ject ; to induce you to advocate with zeal, and alacrity, the 
views of the Parent Institjj^ion, and to form a Society, Aux- 
iliary thereto. 




MOTIO.JV MADE AJK'B SECOJ\'DED, 

PROFESSOR MACLEAN, 

OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW-JERSEY, 

was appointed Secretary of this Meeting. 

The Constitution, previously prepared, 
was then read by the Rev. George S. Woodi 

HULL. 

A MOTJOJY WAS MADE BY 

JAMES S. GREEN, ESQUIRE, 
AJ\rD SECOJ\/'DED, 

that it be adopted. Upon submitting the Motion, 
Mr. Green delivered the following Adress. — 

I RISE, Sir, to move, that the Constitution just read 
be adopted ; and I cannot suffer the opportunity to pass with- 
out expressing my warmest approbation of a Plan, embracing 



19 

in it many manifest and important advantages both to our State 
and our Country. I do not expect to throw any new light 
on a subject, rendered already luminous by the most brilliant 
talents of the nation. I do not expect to add another thrill 
to feelings already warmed and excited by the most power- 
ful appeals ; but you will indulge me, while I attempt simply 
to discharge what I conceive to be a duty, obligatory upon 
me on this occasion, as a citizen of New-Jersey and of the 
United States. 

We all agree in one position — that Slavery can be defended 
on no rational ground whatever ; that it involves a violation 
of every law, human and divine ; that it is at war with all 
the best feelings of our hearts ; that the barbarities which 
have been inflicted upon the degraded sons and daughters of 
Africa, are an outrage upon the dignity and character of a 
human being. 

» 

It is known to you and to this respectable audience, that 
the detestable traffic with Africa in the bodies and souls 
of men, received its death-blow in the British House of Com- 
mons, on the memorable 2nd of April, 1792 ; when Wil- 
berforce and Pitt and Fox united the force of their power- 
ful and splendid talents, to remove from the national char- 
acter its dark and bloody stain. Even those who were 
interested in this unhallowed commerce — even the agents 
of the West Indies, could not resist the strength of their ar- 
guments, or steel their hearts against the irresistible influ- 
ence of their eloquence. The advocates of the Black Man's 
rights demonstrated that no political necessity, no consider- 
ation of private benefit, could justify its continuance for a 
single moment. We have not, therefore, to contend with this 
difficulty. The public mind is right on this point ; and Sir, 
by comparing the impediments which clogged the entrance 
of the path to the temple of benevolence, with those that 
we now meet with, we may find much to quicken and to 
animate us. We have not the embarrassments of a first 
effort J we have the termination of our course clearly in 



14 

view ; and we want nothing but patience and industry 
and perseverance, to reach the vestible — ^to enter the build- 
ing, and there to sit down and enjoy the rich banquet of feel- 
ing and reflection, which is always furnished by doing well. 
*'Who," says Wilberforce, "can tire in such a work. It 
repays itself; it fills the mind with complacency and peace. 
If it obliges us to be conversant with scenes of wretchedness, 
this is but like visiting a hospital from motives of humanity, 
where your feelings repay you for the pain you undergo." 

We all agree too, tliat we owe much to the children 
of Africa in the way of remuneration or recompense. Our 
fathers have contracted a great — a:n enormous moral debt — 
a debt that now incumbers and embarrasses our whole 
country ; a debt that like a mighty incubus, is pressing to 
death the energies of the nation. Relief must be had ; a 
discharge of this debt must be effected, or consequences 
absolutely ruinous will ensue. It is believed to be yet 
practicable to escape these consequences, if we exert our- 
selves with energy, and without delay. But it is high 
time to be up and doing; to examine into our situation; 
to call forth our best exertions in united eftbrts to avert 
the ruin that otherwise threatens us. 

And now. Sir, I am prepared to say that the plan of 
colonization, on which we are met to deliberate, appears to 
me to ofifer the most eligible, — and indeed, so far as I can 
see — the only ^ft'ectual mode of relief. The adoption of 
this plan will, I think, enable us in time to pay what 
we owe. It will form a sinking fund, by the gradual oper- 
ation of which, this debt will be ultimately discharged, 
and we be released forever from its burden. You already 
perceive that the view which I take of this subject has 
regard, as much to our own interest as to the interest 
of the blacks. Such is the fact. The excellence of the 
plan proposed is, that it unites tliese interests ; it makes 
them one and the same. I have no hesitation in saying 
that, for one, I would not advocate this plan, did I tlynk 



15 

that we were adding another mite to the debt already 
contracted, or another cruelty to that long and disgusting ca- 
talogue of wrongs, at which the eye of the philanthropist weeps, 
and the heart of the benevolent sickens. I would not raise 
my voice in its praise, did I not believe, that the plan 
recommends itself by every consideration, consistent at once 
with the calls of humanity and the suggestions of policy ; 
by the advancement of the black man's rights, and the 
white man's interest and easement. Let us, for a moment, 
bring this matter as near as we can to ourselves. Let us 
consider how New-Jersey is interested in this plan of 
colonization. — Will its adoption improve our situation ? For 
unless we can demonstrate this, we shall, I fear, persuade 
but few to lend us their aid. To the State of New-Jersey, 
then, inquiring how her interests are concerned in this 
business, I will endeavour to give an impartial and can- 
did answer. 

We find by the Census of 1810, that her Slaves are 
numbered at more than ten thousand, and her free blacks 
at more than seven thousand. This number has increased 
since that period, and we find by the Census of 1820, that 
the black population of New-Jersey is more than twenty 
thousand. What a mass of ignorance, misery and depra- 
vity, is here mingled with every portion of our population, 
and threatening the whole with a moral and political pesti- 
lence. My answer then to the State of New-Jersey is, that 
this enoi'mous mass of revolting wretchedness and deadly 
pollution will, it is believed, be ultimately taken out of her 
territory, if the plan of the Colonization Society be adopt- 
ed. This is the special concern — and who will say it is not 
a most interesting concern — which the State of New-Jersey 
has in this great national aftair. 

Have you, Sir, ever looked at this domestic evil in 
the detail of its certain and deleterious consequences ? — 
did you ever count the number, one by one, to ascertain 
and feel the danger, with which we are surrounded r 



16 

Here is a host of individuals, sliut out by education or 
prejudice, from all social intercourse with the whites j en- 
tertaining no natural feelings- of sympathy or kindness to- 
wards us ; utter outcasts from all the highest privileges of free- 
men, and as to most of them, from all the decencies of civil- 
ization. No ray of joy lights up their countenance, no 
throb of delight heaves their bosoms, in view of the growing 
prosperity and importance of our country. It is no con- 
cern of theirs. It brings no advantage to them. It affords 
nothing to them that is cheering. As to those who are yet 
in Slavery, Avhen the cloud of misfortune lowers upon the 
affairs of their masters, no distress is manifested — nay, 
I might rather say, that oftentimes a feeling of delight is 
created ; and the thought crosses their discontented minds 
that the judgments of Heaven have revenged their wrongs ; 
that the God of all the earth hath at last punished their op- 
pressors. 

Such is the character, I do not say of every individual, 
but yet certainly of the great majority of your black popula- 
tion. And are we, Sir, entirely safe, while we breathe the 
same atmosphere with this powerful and discontented horde .'' 
If intelligence should reach you, that three thousand men 
had landed on your shores, with the avowed intention of 
marching to this place, to burn your buildings, to murder 
the inhabitants, to plunder your property, what stir, what 
anxiety, what exertion would every where mark the vil- 
lage, and neighbourhood, and State; every man would be 
at his post, and the words 'coward,' and 'traitor,' would be 
marked in burning characters on the forehead of every 
one, who should refuse to join in the resistance. But for 
myself, I do verily believe, we have a more dangerous foe 
than this to contend with ; a foe under the disguise of slave 
or servant ; one who is admitted without reserve into the 
bosom of our families ; one to whom we often commit the 
custody of our dwellings ; one to whom we frequently con- 
fide the care of our children, and yet one who secretly and 
cordially hates and despises the hand that feeds and main- 



17 

tains him. We all know that a foe in disguise is more 
dangerous than an open enemy. Against the last we can 
march, meet, face, and conquer him. The other is silent ; 
his approach is unobserved ; and the first notice that we 
may recieve of his hostile intention may be cries and 
dying groans, or the midnight-conflagration of our dwel- 
lings. 

But it may be asked — is there not a prospect — that by 
education, and an increase of the immunities which the 
blacks already enjoy, their habits, and feelings may be 
improved? Alas, Sir, I am most unwillingly compelled 
to say, in reply, that every day's observation and experience 
teach us, that, with a few honourable exceptions, they 
degenerate in proportion as they are indulged. You 
may make them free, but you make them worthless. 

By some this is thought singular, and not susceptible 
of an explanation. To me, the explanation seems easy. By 
the policy and habits of the country, the blacks are com- 
pletely excluded from every post of honour and profit; 
they are denied all alliance with the whites, either in busi- 
ness or by marriage; tliey are almost shut out from every 
employment of a liberal character; in a woi'd, they are 
hopelessly precluded from ever becoming distinguished 
in church or state. Now, by such means you destroy all 
the usual incentives to industry and emulation, and prov- 
ident foresight, and even to virtue. The slave is a mere 
animal, robbed of all the nobler feelings of our nature, 
unmoved by the calls of ambition or the suggestions of 
prudence, and a freed negro, who must always be a proscribed 
individual, is really but little better. He is sunk below 
the level of the community around him, and he becomes 
the creature of the moment. You have left him no wish, 
but that of the present hour, to be gratified. If the day 
is past with him, and he has had meat and drink and 
cloathing ; this is his all. Hence you find, witli an ex- 

c 



IS 

teption here and there, that negroes are improvident, and care- 
less ; if free, working but little during the summer, and 
living by plunder and bagging during the winter;— -if slaves, 
no way attentive to the interests of their owners, and 
Avorking more from the fear of correction, than the impulse 
of duty. It is not wonderful — it must be apparent — that the 
circumstances I have mentioned, must have a natural, un- 
avoidable, powerful, and pernicious effect upon the whole 
of our black population. 

How is it that a freeman — I speak now of a man 
"who is truly and entirely free ; the man who is admitted to all 
the rights and priveliges of the citizen — how is it that such 
a man, with small capital, with little to begin with, amasses 
in a few years, sufficient property to place him above want ? 
Why Sir, he rises early and sits up late ; he works hard ; 
and the money he earns he lays by, or employs it with 
prudence and caution in the business he has embarked in. 
He is encouraged to all this by the hope and wish, that 
his family may be placed on vantage ground ; that his child- 
dren may be educated ; that plenty may smile around him ; 
and that the evening of his days may not be overcast with 
the clouds of poverty and distress. Here is the obvious cause, 
why he so often rises from the plainness of mediocrity to 
the splendour of affluence. He works for himself and 
saves for himself. But the exact reverse of all this takes 
place with the slave ; and in a great measure with him, who, 
while he is called a free man, is yet more than half a slave in 
reality. He tvorksfor another and consumes for himself. He 
has no motive to save. He is to derive no essential be- 
nefit from it. All he can receive is the support of animal 
existence ; and of this he thinks he is certain. It is the interest 
of his master to secure him this. In a word, slavery is a soil 
in which industry, and generosity, and ambition, necessarily 
wither and die ; and this takes place in every state which ap- 
proaches slavery, just in proportiou to the degree of approxi- 
mation. 



19 

We have upon our statute book a law, which bv a 
slow but certain process, is ultimately to emancipate the 
whole black population of our State. I allude to that 
law which declares every child born of a slave within this 
State, after the 4th July 1804, free, — completely emancipated; 
reserving to the owner of the mother an interest in its services 
for a limited period. This law has been in force for twenty 
yeai's, and its silent but powerful operation ma}-^ be observed hy 
all, by comparing the Census of 1810 with the Census of 1820. 
By the first, the slaves of New-Jersey are numbered at 10,851, 
by the second at 7p57, exhibiting a decrease of 2,294 in ti^n 
years. The free blacks are estimated at 7,843 in 1810, and 
at 12,460 in 1820, making an increase of 4,617 in ten years. — 
Look abroad through the State, and but few, very tew ancient 
negroes meet the eye. The most, if not the whole of them, have 
descended to the grave ; and its silence has hushed forever 
their lamentations. But extend your view into futurity ; look 
forward for twenty years to come, and recollect that your black 
population will then all be free — no longer under the chains 
of slavery ; completely independant ; with no other restraint 
than the law. Yes, and you will then have, without exaggera- 
tion, a black population amounting to at least twenty-five 
thousand individuals, and every one of them excluded by your 
laws from all participation in the government — made to bear 
a portion of its burdens, and yet allowed no part in the election 
of those who impose these burdens. This, it may be recollect- 
ed, was the very ground of our complaint against Great Brit- 
tain, which brought on the war of our Independence. There 
is intelligence enough among the blacks to be fully apprised of 
this fact, and at the period contemplated it will not fail to be 
urged. Yet the plea will not be admitted — and what will be 
the consequence ? Refusal will beget resentment, and re- 
sentment will produce resistance to taxation, and resistance 
to taxation will bring in the civil authority to enforce the law, 
and the civil authority will eventually be resisted with 
arms by the blacks, and arms will be repelled with arms by 
the whites. Here is the natural process, by which we may 
be involved in all the evils of a civil and ser^ He war — And 



20 

if such a -war shall take place, it ought to be remembered 
tliat it will be with " a foe, whom no recollections of former 
kindness will soften, and whom the remembrance of severi- 
ty will goad to phrenzy. " You will not understand me as say- 
ing that this issue of things is certain, even if no measures 
are taken with a view to prevent it. But I declare to you, 
Sir, that I think it more probable, than many occurrences- 
in which the negroes have actually been concerned within 
the memory of us all. 

But perhaps there are those, — and there are I believe a few 
such in the State, who will reply to all this by saying, that they 
would remove the whole of these objections and obstacles at 
once, by admitting the blacks to a full and perfect participa- 
tion of all the immunities, privileges, and honours, of the white 
population. This may be said, Sir, but I seriously doubt, 
whether there are three white persons in the State, who would 
really and truly act upon this plan. Nay, I seriously doubt, whe- 
ther there is one white father or mother in New-Jersey, who 
would be willing, that a son or a daughter should contract mar- 
riage with the best educated negro, male or female, that now ex- 
ists. And what do you think, Sir, of a black Governor, a black 
Chief Justice, a black member of Congress, a black member of 
the Legislature, a black Justice of the Peace, or even a black 
Lawyer. I appeal to you, and to every individual in this As- 
sembly, whether the very naming of these things, does not 
excite feelings which demonstrate that they could not, at least 
for a long time to come, be realized among us. No Sir, 
they cannot. — Call it folly, to be frightened by the word black; 
prejudice to hate a black skin; the mere effect of education to 
seperate this race so widely from ourselves. I admit it all. 
But still the fact is so, and you cannot help it. You must put 
the blacks by themselves and they must make a society of their 
own, if they are to be real freemen. Humanity, as well as 
justice, calls for this. For among the whites of this country, 
they will be treated for some generations to come, if not forever. 
as inferior beiiiirs. 



21 

It seems to me to deserve particular consideration, tliat 
the lav/ to which I have already alluded, enacts, that no ne- 
gro shall thereafter be removed or carried out of the State, ex- 
cept in particular cases — alone applicable to the owners of 
slaves who intend to remove permanently from New-Jersey ; 
and then, upon such conditions as almost amount to a 
prohibition. Hence you perceive, that all our black popu- 
lation, with all its increase, is in a sort entailed upon us; 
and this in time will produce an evil too intolerable to be 
borne. Let not this be called a visionary speculation. 
Look at a few of the consequences of emancipating slaves, 
as they are already exhibited day after day before your eyes. 
Look into the streets of your village, and there — in the drunk- 
enness, and quarrels, and riots, of worthless and idle negroes — 
you percieve in miniature, what you must suffer in a ten- 
fold degree, when the laws in question shall have had their 
full operation and effeet. 

There is another consideration suggested by the effect 
of these laws worthy of attention. I allude to our liability 
to support the blacks as paupers. At the period — not, as 
we have seen very far distant — when all our blacks will be 
free under the law as it now stands, and as I hope 
it will always stand, they are entitled to a support either 
in the township where they are born, or in that township where 
they have served seven years. In fact, they are placed by this 
law upon the same footing with the whites. The support in 
question is derived from funds, created by taxation, 
which will necessarily fall with its principal weight upon 
the whites ; and from what we have already learned from 
observation and from the inspection of our pauper lists, it 
is not predicting too much to say, that twenty years hence 
we must, if no change of circumstances take place, sup- 
port one half of this degraded population. 

What is tlie fruitful source of pauperism ? — This sub- 
ject has engaged the talents and been submitted to the inves- 
tigation, of some of tlie wisest and best men of the age. 



2.2 

And however they may dilfer upon minor points^, they all agree 
in this, that paupers increase in proportion to the ease with 
tvhich relief is obtained; and that those soonest apply for 
relief who have lost their pride and ambition ; who have 
abandoned all sentiments of shame; Avhose character is 
gone, and who are only anxious to sustain their animal exist- 
ence. And is not this the very description of your emancipat- 
ed black population ? You exclude them from your company and 
conversation, and by this you make them indiflferent to your 
opinion ; you shut them out from all places of profit and 
honour, and by this you make them destitute of shame. From 
general sentiment, or from prejudice, or whatever you may 
please to call it, they are precluded from that kind of 
intercourse and alliance, which gives birth to noble and eleva- 
ted feelings — to that niceness and quickness of sensibility which 
spurns assistance, as long as personal exertion can secure a 
livelihood. You at once destroy tlie whole train of thoughts, 
feelings and aftections, which now makes the list of your white 
paupers so moderate. There will be to the black, no harsh- 
ness or humiliation in the name of pauper. His cheek will 
not burn when pointed at as the object of public charity : 
may I not rather say, that he will be quickened in his appli- 
cation for relief by the thought, that it is to come from the 
purse of the whites ; that he is only to receive a small return, 
for the many labours and groans that his ancestors, as well a3 
himself, have sustained and uttered in the bondage of their 
task-masters. Who does not perceive the eft'ect of this con- 
sideration .P Why Sir, I have myself heard a black declare 
that she would not work, because her master's estate or the 
public must maintain her. 

Do not understand me as speaking against the laws to 
which I have alluded. They are humane and just laws ; but 
I do say, that t]iey offer a strong and powerful argument in 
support of the plan proposed. I do not wish them repealed, 
but in the march of improvement, let us adopt some measure 
to relieve ourselves from a burden which our humanity has 
imposed. Having done justice to the blacks, let us do jus- 



23 

tice to ourselves ; having purged our character of a moral 
stain, let us secure ourselves from danger ; having acted as 
Christians, let us be prudent as citizens j let us do this, lest 
we cherish a serpent, which, after being warmed and invigo- 
rated by our kindness, may inflict, by its sting and poison, a 
dangerous and deadly wound. 

It seems to me perfectly obvious then, that nothing short 
of an actual removal of the blacks from among us, will fur- 
nish relief to a dreadful disease, which slavery has brought 
on the body politic. Preventives, and sedatives, and altera- 
tives will not do. Nothing but total amputation will effect 
a cure. 

New-Jersey is then deeply interested in this matter. 

I have already trespassed so long upon your indulgence, 
that I shall not detain you further than to answer very briefly, 
an objection or two that have been urged against the plan. 

An opinion has prevailed, and prevailed much to the pre- 
judice of the contemplated measure, that the whole of the 
country on the Coast of Africa, and more particularly, that 
part selected for the Colony, is little more than a barren 
Avaste, whei'e vegetation seldom cheers the eye, where dis- 
ease, in its most frightful form, meets every visitor, where there 
are none of the means for domestic comfort, and where there is 
no prospect of improvement. From the known force of these 
suggestions, the advocates of the plan are met with an argu- 
ment, addressed to their hearts, and urged powerfully on all 
their humane feelings. They are told that to send the blacks 
to such a country, is to send them to their graves ; that while 
the advocates of 'the plan profess that they are advancing 
the cause of humanity, they are virtually sacrificing every 
thing that is dear, and sacred, and interesting to the blacks — 
that this country may be released from the burden of their 
support, but that it is at the appalling expense of their lives 
or at least of all their comfort } that we give them freedom 



24 

only to render their situation ten times more dreadful. Now, if 
this be true, the plan ought to be abandoned at once, and 
abandoned for ever. But Sir, the information received in this 
country from sources that are beyond suspicion ; from men of 
the brightest honour and strictest integrity, and most unsullied 
truth ; from men who have embarked in this work of huma- 
nity, from the purest motives j from men who have visited 
the spot and were eye-witnesses to what they narrate — wlio 
have made accurate and close observations on the manners 
and customs of the inhabitants, on the soil, on the climate, 
the water and productions of the country — I say the inforni- 
ation derived from such sources, proves beyond all contra- 
diction, that Africa is not far beliind other countries and 
other climes, in fertility of soil, in excellence of water, in 
salubrity of air, in variety of vegetation, in number of domes- 
tic animals — not in fine in any thing, which by proper culture 
and attention is essential to the convenience, comfort and 
support of life. 

You, Sir, are among those, who have visited this region; 
and I appeal for the truth of my statement to your own per- 
sonal observation ; I appeal to those present who have con- 
versed with Dr. Ayres, the Agent of the Society, who but a 
few days since was at this place ; I appeal to the journal of 
Mr. Bacon, which is before the public ; and to the eloquent 
and luminous article in the North American Review. All 
these authorities, with others that might be named, bear out 
completely tlie justice of the statement that I have made. 

Another objection urged against this plan is, that the ne- 
gros themselves do not possess either force of intellect or 
stability of character, to furnish proper materials for a regu- 
lar government. But let it be observed, that the plan pro- 
posed is not to be understood as recommending the immediate 
emancipation of every black in the State, and raising him 
at once to all the immunities of a member of an organized 
government. We admit that to do this would indeed be, 
as has been said, " to let in the full light of freedom on his 



eyes scarce unsealed from the scales of bondage and would 
be to set before the Slave, an advantage, which he is not 
competent to coniprehe^nd, which he would seize in ima- 
gination as the infant grasps at the object of his desire, 
without compreliending the difficulties in the way of its 
attainment." But the plan, we contemplate, furnishes an 
opportunity to giliose already prepai'ed by instruction to enjoy 
in the land of their forefathers all the advantages of civil 
society, and to prepare others for these advantages as fast 
as shall be found practicable. We will, however, never 
admit that the blacks, when removed from the degraded 
situation in which they are placed, are destitute of those 
powers of mind necessaiy to constitute the members of 
a well ordered society. I appeal again, Sir, to your own 
observation on this point. Do they not, when the pressure 
is removed, possess as much elasticity of mind, as the whites? 
And may we not fairly attribute all their dulness and stupi- 
dity to their want of a proper stimulus, to their exclusioa 
from all those excitements and encouragements which are 
found, and only found in a state of real freedom and under 
the advantages of a favourable education.^ 

But I hear it objected, that this will take time. Yes, Sir. 
it will and a considerable time too; and for this very reason we 
ought to begin immediately. "\\'e ought not to abandon a mea- 
sure of justice and benevolence because we may not live 
to witness its full accomplishment. Let those, who have 
not observed the long continued labours of the negroes' 
friend examine for a moment the little prospect of success 
that cheered him in his first attempts ; and when he has done 
so, let him compare the effects of the first efforts with their 
results as at present exhibited. Why, Sir, the horrors of the 
prison ship, where the wretched negroes could scarcely breathe, 
were pleaded for, and stoutly defended, till the champion of 
the black man's rights, obtained their absolute prohibition. 
One grievance was redressed after another, till the blacks 
came at last to be treated in some measure, not as brutes, but 
as men. So it will be with this plan. Its benefits will be 

n 



26 

progressive and at first perhaps small. You may send but feW 
at first, but the number will increase year by year, and we 
tnist, that we shall at length find exhibited in regard to our 
Colony, what was exhibited in regard to the first settlement 
of this country. 

On the whole, I am satisfied, that this plan will ultimately 
succeed. All that it wants is a full understanding on the 
part of the public. If the feelings of an intelligent commu- 
nity receive the right direction, if they flow in a proper chan- 
nel, they will, before long, reach the general government; the 
plan will become national property, and we shall see the peo- 
ple rising as one man to join in its advancement. Let us not 
then give up our efforts, but in the language of Pitt, " listen 
to the voice of reason and duty, and pursue the line of con- 
duct they prescribe, and some of us may live to see the re- 
verse of that picture from which we now turn our eyes with 
shame and regret. We may live to behold the natives of Af- 
rica and her reclaimed children, engaged in the calm occupa- 
tions of industry, in the pursuits of a just and legitimate com- 
merce. We may behold the beams of science and philosophy, 
breaking in upon their land, which at some happy period 
in still later times, may blaze with full lustre ; and joining- 
their influence to that of pure religion may illuminate and 
invigorate the most distant extremities of that immense 
continent. Then may we hope, that even Africa, though 
last of all the quarters of the globe shall enjoy, at length, 
in the evening of her days, those blessings, which have de- 
scended so plentifully upon us in a much earlier period of the 
world 1" 

REV. DR. MILLER 

then rose and said, 

THAT after the truly interesting and eloquent 
addresses to which the Meeting had listened, he did not 
feel as if any thing he could say, would be likely either 



27 

to engage or to reward attention. He had risen, therefore, 
jiot with the design of saying a word himself on the im- 
portant subject under consideration ; but solely for the pur- 
pose of introducing to the Meeting a reverend and respected 
Gentleman then present — a Friend and accredited Agent 
of the American colonization Society ; — who was on a 
journey, one object of which was the promotion of its in- 
terests ; — and who, he hoped, would be so obliging as to 
make such communications to the Meeting as he should 

judge proper. He referred to the Rev. George Boyd, 

of Philadelphia. 

Mr. Bojd then arose and addressed the Meeting, 
and we have to regret, that we are unable to pre- 
sent the public with the interesting remarks and im- 
portant suggestions made by him. 

He was followed by 

REV. DR. GREEN, 

who addressed the Meeting as follows : — 

Mr. Chairman, 

As I am not at present an inhabitant 
of this village, perhaps I ought not to open my lips on this 
occasion. But it has occurred to me that the subject under 
discussion is not one of merely local mterest It is one in 
which every citizen of the United States is, and ought to 
feel himself, deeply concerned. With your permission, there- 
fore, I shall offer a few observations — and I intend they shall 
be but few — chiefly on a point which has not been touched 
by the gentlemen who have preceeded me, and which in my 
judgment is worthy of attention. 

It appears that there are two plans at this time before 
the public, for diminishing or drawing off the coloured popu- 



28 

l^ition of tlie United States. The one is, to colonize this po" 
pulation on the Western Coast of Africa ; the other is to 
add this population to that of a similar complexion, Avhich 
is already oi'ganized into a form of government, in the Island 
of Hayti. I have not been able to see that these plans are 
at all inconsistent with, or necessarily hostile to each other ; 
and it is not without regi-et that I have observed that some of 
their friends, severally, have considered and represented them 
as militating. On the contrary, it has appeared to me really 
desirable, that there should be more places than one, to which 
the descendants of Africans, who leave our couutry, may 
betake themselves. It has appeared desirable — since we 
know that dififerent individuals are influenced by very dif- 
ferent views ai'A iMotives — that there should be some option 
left to the emicrants, ftS to the pi? ce of resort which may best 
suit their various inclinations. To whatever place they go, 
they leave this country ; and the more numerous the placesi 
of refuge or expatriation, the greater probably will be the 
number that will leave us; and thus a principal object of 
regard, with the favourers of both plans, will be obtained. Not 
Sir, that minds truly benevolent v.ill la satisfied to rid this 
country of its colou,'ed population, without any regard to 
the happiness or well-being of the emigrants. We have done 
them and their ancestors one flagrant injury already, in bring- 
ing them from their ov/n country 5 and no man of humanity 
can think with satisfaction of doing them another, in send- 
ing them fi-om this. They ought never to be sent away, 
but by their own voluntary choice. We must point them to 
a place of retirement, m Inch shall offer them so many ad- 
vantages above what they can ever enjoy in this country, that 
they will gladly seek it for themselves. But the more places 
you open to their view, the more you will consult, as I have 
said, that variety of motive and propensity, the gratification 
of which constitutes happiness ; and which, the more it can be 
consulted, the more rapidly will voluntary emigration take 
place. 

There is however, I admit, one consideration which may 



29 

and ought to have a deep influence on the real friends of the 
African race in this whole business. I have liinted at it al- 
ready, and will now dwell upon it a little more particularly. 
Both Hayti, and the Settlement proposed at Liberia, on the 
African Coast, are places, the real state and circumstances of 
which can be known to our coloured people, only by inform- 
ation ; and to give them false information, in regard to ei- 
ther, would be cruel and wicked in the extreme. If those who 
go to either, sliould find a place, exceedingly different from 
wliat had been represented to them here, and from which re- 
presentation they had sought it as a place of permanent resi- 
dence for themselves and their offspring, their disappoint- 
ment would be grievous, and the guilt of those who had de- 
ceived them would be great. Intentional deception ought 
not to be imputed to the favourers of either of the plans 
contemplated. The characters of those who take a leading 
part in promoting both, should save them from any such im- 
putation. But men often take a warm interest in a scheme 
before they have well examined it ; and afterwards they see 
every thing througli the medium of strong prejudice, and 
hence deceive both themselves and others. 

Now, Sir, in regard to Hayti, we all know that it is mucli 
more contiguous to our own country tlian the Coast of Af- 
rica ; the climate is represented as healthy ; much of its soil 
is said to be very favourable to cultivation; and the offers of 
its chief magistrate are, in many respects liberal and alluiing, 
These certainly are circumstances and considerations of a 
very favourable kind. 

But let it not be forgotten that Hayti can never receive 
one third of the coloured population of the United States, if 
it were prepared to embark to-morrow ; and therefore it i^ 
plain that this can never be the great reservoir, into w'aich the 
streams of» tliis population can empty themselves for a cen- 
tury to come. If other circumstances, therefore, were satis- 
factory, I would say, let those who choose to go to Hayti de- 
part in peace, and as speedily as possible. The frionds of 



-the African plan need not speak against this. Their plan is 
still just as necessary as if the other had never been conceiv- 
ed, and they ought to pursue it with just as much zeal and 
steadiness as if Hayti had no existence. 

But I cannot forbear to say that there are some considera- 
tions in regard to Hayti, which appear to me to wear a very 
forbidding aspect. Of these considerations I shall mention only 
one, which I the rather select because, if I am not in error on 
the subject, it is grounded on a public and authentic docu- 
ment ; and because, as a friend and minister of religion, I feel 
a deeper interest in it than in any other. You anticipate that 
it is a religious consideration to which I refer — It is so. And 
you will allow me to remark that every real friend of religion 
must regard its interests and concerns, as of infinitely greater 
moment than any which relate only to this transitory life. 
Christianity, in its genuine spirit is, in my estimation, deci- 
sively opposed to slavery, of every description and degree. 
Nor is it regardless of any of the temporal concerns of the 
human race. It seeks in every proper way to alleviate and 
prevent suffering, and to promote the happiness of mankind 
in the present life. It was the character of its divine Author 
that " he went about doing good." — Doing good to the bodies 
as well as the souls of men. But still it is true, that real 
Christianity, considering time as bearing no proportion to eter- 
nity makes nothing of all the miseries and sufferings, or of all 
the prosperity and felicities of the " life which now is," in com- 
parison with those "of the life which is to come." It views 
slavery itself as a transient evil, not of the highest import- 
ance to him, who, while he is a Slave, is still " the Lord's 
freeman." It necessarily results from this, that the real 
friends of religion, in providing for the emancipation and emi- 
gration of the children of Africa, will be most of all con- 
cerned for their spiritual welfare, in the desirable change of 
condition which they are about to realize. Now, if I have 
not mistaken — and I sincerely wish I may have mistaken — 
wliat the chief magistrate of Hayti has authorized his agent to 
say, on the subject of religion — he announces a restriction, to 



31 

which I know not how any practical Christian, any OTie who is 
sensible of the worth of souls and of his own supreme allegiance 
to his Saviour, ever can submit. The restriction to which I allude 
is couched in measured and guarded language, but yet it appears 
to come clearly to this-that the emigrants to Hayti may hold and 
act on their own religious creed without molestation, provided 
they do not endeavour to propagate their sentiments among 
others. To this provision it seems to me that no real Christian 
can consisently subscribe — at least not as a permanent rule of 
life. What, Sir, can a true disciple of the Redeemer see 
multitudes around him crowding, as he verily believes, to 
eternal perdition, and never say or do any thing to save 
them from " the wrath to come!" It is impossible. He will 
feel that he is sacredly bound, by a publication of the truth, 
by argument and persuasion, and by every friendly endeavour 
that he can use, to save them from the impending ruin. — Fail* 
ing to do this, he would become a traitor to his Lord. But I 
fear that the very terms on which the emigrants to Hayti 
accept the offer of the Government, will forbid them to do 
this. In a word, I fear that they must either violate their 
engagements to the civil government, or their duty to God. 
Such a fearful dilemma as this, every conscientious man should 
use all his vigilance to avoid. Till therefore, something more 
explicit and satisfactory on the subject of religion is published 
by the government of Hayti, I see not how any pious black 
protestant can think of settling and bringing up a family in 
that Island ; nor how any protestant minister of the Gospel, 
or professing Christian, can advise to such a measure. 

As to a Settlement in the proposed colony on the Coast 
of Africa, those who have gone before me have said almost 
the whole that I could wisli to be said. My friend from Phi- 
ladelphia, in particular, with whom I have been favoured to 
be associated in other enterprises of benevolence, has given 
you that very view of this enterprise, which, otherwise, I 
might have endeavoured to exhibit. What he has said so well 
I will not attempt to repeat. Yet I may be allowed to remark 



32 

that almost from the hour in which I heard of this plan — arid 
I heard of it from him in whose mind I fully believe it was 
first of all conceived, from the Rev. Mr. Finley of this State, — 
and a native of this village. The feature of the plan which 
has always struck and interested me the most, is the one on 
which my friend who has just spoken, has chiefly dwelt. 
Yes, Sir, what has all along interested me most deeply in 
meditating on this plan is the hope, and I think the strong- 
probability, that the God " who seeth the end from the begin- 
ning," and with whom " a thousand years are as one day and 
one day as a thousand years," and whose prerogative it is to 
"make the wrath of man to praise him," and to bring good 
out of evil, has ordained that the guilty conduct of Christ- 
ians in enslaving the children of Africa, shall eventually be 
made productive of the richest blessings, which the inhabit- 
ants of that quarter of the globe have ever received from 
the Father of Mercies. I have hoped, and I do now con- 
fidently expect, that Christian nations — for Christian na- 
tions alone have done it — have been permitted to enslave the 
Africans, that ultimately, when Christians shall repent of 
their crime, and seek to repair the injury they have inflict- 
ed, by restoring to Africa her enslaved children — by restoring 
them in the character of freemen and Christians — these free- 
men and christians will be the instruments in the hands of 
God, to civilize and christianize that large section of the 
earth, which for so many ages has been sunk, and up to 
this hour is still sunk, in profounder depths of wretchedness, 
and degradation, and infernal superstition, than any other. 

The desirable event wliich I thus contemplate, I with the more 
confidence expect will be realized, because if it takes place, 
it will I think be analogous to the usual order of the divine 
dispensations. In these dispensations the work of a God is 
often apparent in this — that while " men think not so, neither 
doth their heart mean so," he is fulfilling his sovereign will, and 
carrying into eftect his merciful designs. From the sure 
word of prophecy, we know that " Ethiopia shall strech forth 



Jjer hands unto God," and " that all the ends of the earth 
shall see his salvation ;" and therefore, that Africa shall yet 
be christianized. 

But it seems almost impossible without a miracle, which 
we have no reason to expect, that it ever should be christianized 
except by Africans. It is true, as my friend has remarked, 
that the climate of Africa, though not unfriendly to our co- 
loured people, is so fatal to white men that they cannot live in 
it long enough to carry on any protracted operations. Indeed I 
perceive that the waste of missionary life in the East Indies, 
which are less fatal to Europeans than Africa, is such, 
ihat the friends and supporters of missions there have be- 
come fully sensible that native converts must event- 
ually be looked to, as the principle missionaries, and they 
are accordingly making strenuous exertions to educate 
tliem for this purpose. Native missionaries, moreover, when 
well qualified, are, on various accounts, more acceptable to 
their brethren than strangers, and can address them with 
more advantage from a knowledge of their customs and their 
feelings. 

Africans must and will, at last, christianize Africa ; and 
if my wishes do not wholly pervert my judgment, I see the 
process begun, in the Colonization Society which we are met 
to assist, by forming an auxiliary. A number of pious and 
well educated blacks, will be sent from this country in the 
first instance. They will educate others in Africa. Every 
missionary and almost every convert, will be a plant which 
will bring forth fruit a hundred fold. Under the divine bles- 
sing, and when " the set time" in the purpose of God to fa- 
vour and build up Zion is fully come, the progress of Christ- 
ianity, — of unadulterated Christianity — among the heathen and 
barbarous nations, will be far more rapid than has ever yet been 
seen. A century hence civilization may exist and Christian 
churches may be planted in every part of the African conti- 
nent. Civilization and Christianity will go together, and mu- 
tually assist each other. They are indeed all but inseparable. 

E 



34 

In no way can a rude and barbarous people be so effectually 
and so rapidly civilized, as by making them Christians ; and 
a poi'tion of civilization is essential to the permanent establish- 
ment of Christianity in any community. What a happy, what 
a glorious change! when these sister blessings shall have shed 
their benign and renovating influence, over that extended mo- 
ral waste — more desolate to a christian eye than any which na- 
ture has created there — which stretches from Cape Monserra- 
do on the west, to Grand Cairo on the east; and from the shores 
of the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope. Through 
this whole vast empire of Satan, civilization and Christianity 
shall yet scatter their innumerable and inestimable blessings! 
"The wilderness and solitary place shall be glad for them ; and 
the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blos- 
som abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing ; the 
glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of 
Carmel and Sharon, they shall see tlie glory of the Lord, and 
the excellency of our God, " 

If I need an apology, Sir, for addressing you at much 
greater length than I intended when I began ; it is this — the 
subject, as it is apt to do, has made me forget myself: and if 
any think, that I have given to the subject too religious an as- 
pect, I have to say, that different views of it have been presented 
by others ; that as it was religion which first operated to put 
an end to the horrible African Slave Trade, so I am persuad- 
ed that religion and its friends will be principally instrumental 
in colonizing and civilizing, as well as in Christianizing the 
country from which the unhappy slaves have been wrested. 
On the friends of religion, doubtless, must be the main reliance 
for the success of this cause; and they, I assuredly believe, will 
promote it with all their means and all their influence. 



The Constitution, with some Amendments 
was then unanimously adopted. — After which the 
Ofificers of the Society were elected. 



35 



OA* MOTIOJ^ BY 

GREENBURY W. RIDGELY, ESQ. 

IT tVAS RESOLVED, 

That Captain Stockton he respectfully solicited to 
address a letter to the Managers of this So- 
ciety, containing a full account of his visit to 
the Coast of Africa, together with such renwrks 
on the Climate, Soil, Inhabitants, Src, of that 
country as he may deem important; and that 
this letter be published under the direction of the 
Managers. 

Mr. R. briefly remarked that this motion was suggested by 
the very appropriate address with which the Meeting had been, 
opened. — Captain Stockton had visited Africa — He aided in 
the selection and the purchase of our possessions at Monser- 
rado— He has had as good an opportunity of becoming ac- 
quainted with that section of the African Continent as any 
man, perhaps, in America. We have but two formidable ene- 
mies, Sir, to encounter in this enterprise : Ignorance and 
Apathy. — Let the one be removed and the other shall be eas- 
ily overcome. Let the history, the design, the resources, 
and the prospects of the American Colonization Society, be 
once generally known, and it must become popular in this coun- 
try .-It cannot be otherwise. The information which Capt. Stock- 
ton is probably capable of affording should be scattered through* 
out this State ; if possible, throughout the Union. — Such a com- 
munication as this motion contemplates, will, I am sure, be ac- 
ceptable to every member of this Meeting. A request of this 
kind is perhaps the best method of procuring it. I hope that 
it will not be unpleasant to the gentleman, whom it personally 
concerns. 



OJV MOTJOJ\r ^T 

REV. GEORGE S. WOODHULL, 

IT WAS RESOLVED, 

TTiat Five hundred copies of the Proceedings^ fyc, of 
this Meeting be printed in the Pamphlet form* 

The Meeting was concluded with prayer by the 
Rev. Dr. Miller. 



The following is a Copy of the Constitution, 
as adopted, with a List of the Officers of the So- 
ciety for the ensuing year. 



CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 



ARTICLE I. 

This Society shall be known by the name of the 
"NEW-JERSEY COLONIZATION SOCIETY." 

ARTICLE n. 

The objects of the Society shall be, to circulate inv 
formation among the inhabitants of this State, on the 

subject of COLONIZING THE FREE BLACKS OF THE UNITED 

STATES, and to cooperate with the Parent iNSTiTUTiOKf 
at the City of Washington. 

ARTICLE IIL 

Any person paying One Dollar Annually, or Twenty 
Dollars at one time, to the Treasurer, shall be a Mem- 
ber of the Society. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The business of the Society shall be conducted by a 
Board of Managers, consisting of a President, six Vice- 
Presidents, a Treasurer, a Secretary, and twelve other 
Managers, to be chosen annually by the Society ; any 
five of whom, convened in consequence of a regular ad- 
journment, or by the call of the President, shall be a 
quorum to do business. 



3S 



ARTICLE V. 

The Managers may make their own By-laws. — It 
shall be their duty to report annually to the Society — to 
correspond with similar Institutions — and to make use of 
such means as to them may seem expedient for the pur- 
pose of raising funds, and for diffusing information re- 
specting the number, and situation of the Free Blacks in 
the United States — the situation of the Colonies on the 
Coast of Africa — the state of the Institutions that may 
be established from time to time for the education of 
Free Blacks — the progress of Civilization and Christianity 
on the Continent of Africa — and on all snbjects that may 
be connected with the important objects that this. Society 
have in view. 

ARTICLE VL 

The Annual Meeting of the Society shall be held on 
the second Wednesday in July, at 11 o'Clock A.M., at 
such place as the Managers shall previously direct. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Twenty Directors shall be appointed, who shall, at 
their option, meet with the Board of Managers, and vote 
in all matters that may come before them ; and the Board 
of Managers are hereby authorized to fill all vacancies 
that may occur among the Directors, and increase their 
number at pleasure. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

This Constitution may be altered by a vote of the ma- 
jority of the Members present at the Annual Meetings. 



LIST OF OFFICERS. 



PRESIDENT, 

ROBERT FIELD STOCKTON, ESQ. 

OF THF U. STATES NAVY. 

JAMES S. GREEN, ESQ. 
JOHN POTTER, ESQ. 
L. Q. C. ELMER, ESQ.'' 
DR. JOHN T. WOOD HULL. 
GEN. JOHN FRELINHUYSEN. 
WILLIAM W. MILLER, ESQ. 

ROBERT VOORHEES, ESQ. 

Setrrtars, 

PROFESSOR JOHN MACLEAN. 



JUanafirtfiJ, 



DR. JOHN VANCLEVE. ^ PROFESSOR CHARLES HODGE 

RICHARD M. GREEN, ESQ. I REV. GEORGE S. WOODHULL 
MR. GREENBURY W. RIDGELY. ? MR. GEORGE SHERMAN. 
MR. DANIEL PENICK. | MR. DANIEL FENTON. 

THOMAS WHITE, ESQ. | DR. HAGERMAN. 

JOHN SIMPSON, ESQ. 5 MR. JOSEPH OLDEN. 



*/ 



.40 



DIRECTORS, 



OR 



HONORARY MANAGERS 



his excellency isaac h. williamson, 
his honour andrew kirkpatrick. 
the honourable richard stockton, 
the honourable theodore frelinhuysen. 
the honourable lewis condict, 
his honour william rossell. 
his honour gabriel ford. 
David Thomson, esq. 

SAMUEL bayard, ESQ. 

CHARLES EWING, ESQ. 

WILLIAM CRUSER, ESQ. 

REV. DR. JOHN WOODHULL. 

REV. DR. JOHN LIVINGSTON. 

REV. DR. SAMUEL MILLER. 

REV. DR. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER. 

REV. DR. JAMES CARNAHAN. 

REV. DR. JOHN MACDOWELL. 

REV. DR. ASA HILLYER. 

REV. DAVID COMFORT. 

REV. ISAAC V. BROWN. 

REV. WILLIAM C BROWNLEE. 



u 



